Author Archives: Kimberly Snyder

foodmythsCollage

5 Top Health Food Myths (That Truly Irk Me!) Revealed

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Sometimes health myths are harmless and a little absurd. Even laughable. And then they fade away into oblivion as if they were never really pinned as truths…while those that may have espoused them at their height of popularity vehemently deny so afterwards in embarrassment (um, remember margarine? Yes, the perpetually-rectangularly-shaped-even-at-warm-room-temps block of fat, now exposed as a transfatty acid nightmare, but which was once hailed as the fatty spread savior of mankind!?)

But others hang around and can do serious damage to your health and well-being. The following five health food myths have been circulating for some time now and don’t seem to be going away. I feel it’s really important to see the other side of the information around these largely believed notions. So let’s debunk them here!

Myth #1: You Can’t Get Enough Protein.

High-protein diets are in the spotlight at the moment, and seem to suggest the idea that there is no such thing as consuming too much protein. Of all the macronutrients (fat, carbs, and protein), protein is the one to have survived countless dietary fads without getting a bad reputation. The truth is, you can have too much and the results could be devastating, like renal damage in those with pre-existing renal disease. A review of dangers associated with high protein diets lists hyperaminoacidemia, hyperammonemia, hyperinsulinemia, nausea, diarrhea, constipation and even death. When you consume too much protein, the liver can’t keep up in turning all the excess nitrogen to urea so that it can efficiently leave the body. In general, the toxicity levels in your body increase the more animal protein you consume. protein

The RDA recommendation from the Institute of Medicine is .76 grams of protein per kilogram of our weight. So for example, a 140-lb woman would only need about 48 grams of protein per day, which is easy to reach with plant-based Beauty Proteins in a day. You can get plenty of protein on the Beauty Detox program, especially considering the amount of greens you’ll be taking in (about 50 percent of the calories in green vegetables come from protein!).

In addition to the complications of protein itself, animal protein often comes with quite a bit of saturated fat. If you’re eating a diet high in protein and neglecting carbs and fiber, you run the risk of increasing your cholesterol levels and putting your cardiovascular health on the line, says the American Heart Association. Another potential problem with a high protein diet where carbohydrate consumption is diminished is in the colon. One study showed that the lack of carbs and fiber made colon disease more likely.

If you want to consume animal protein, monitor your portion sizes and remember that they “there’s never too much protein” mentality is exhausting to your body and digestive tract, and ultimately, aging you.

Myth #2: Fruit Has Too Much Sugar.

Fruit is the most natural food on the planet for us to eat. If you were stuck in the wild, you would reach for the figs and oranges as a natural instinct. The problem is that modern diets today are so high in fats (which can circulate in your bloodstream for hours and hours) and/or slow-digesting proteins, which can interfere with efficient fruit digestion. When you eat fruit alone or with greens, as you should for optimal digestion and Beauty Energy, the fruit is quickly digested, provides immediate fuel, and acts as the strongest cleanser of toxins to purge out of the body. Fructose also becomes a problem when consumed in concentrated form (like agave) or in foods and drinks (like sodas) that offer nothing nutritionally, which have unfortunately become the norm in the Standard American Diet.

Fruit only has a small amount of fructose because it’s very sweet, and it’s there as an incentive to make you want to eat it because the whole fruit is so nutritionally dense. Side note: only eat fruit raw or, very occasionally, dried (unsulfured and with no sugar added), as heat causes the fruit to become acidic in the body and strips away the benefits. I’m not a fan of cooked fruit pies (for more than one reason!). Don’t worry, there are healthier desserts to try, when you just need a sweet.

Because you’re only getting a small amount of fructose when you eat fruit, and because fruit contains so much water and so many other vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, and fiber, it’s a complete nutritional package that offers so many health benefits (though Blossoming Beauties and those with candidiasis may wish to stay away from the sweeter fruits for a little while, until they’re balanced, as well as those with blood sugar or other specific health issues).

People that deny themselves fruit end up consuming far less favorable sweet flavors in other ways- desserts, chocolate treats, sugar or artificial sweeteners in coffee, etc. We are meant to eat carbohydrates and some sweets for energy- ie fruit, as a natural form of energy. Since I’ve increased my fruit intake so much the last few years, I’ve drastically cut down on desserts, even healthier ones.

Some of the lower sugar fruits include:fruit sugar

  • Avocados
  • Cucumbers
  • Tomatoes
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Cranberries
  • Currants
  • Grapefruit
  • Green apples
  • Kiwi
  • Kumquats
  • Limes
  • Lemons
  • Pomegranates
  • Strawberries

If you’re not a Blossoming Beauty or suffering from Candidiasis, don’t just limit yourself to those. Fruit—any raw, ripe fruit—is Beauty Food, and it’s good for you!

Myth #3: Greek Yogurt is the Best Way to Start the Day.

Be conscious of what you put in your body. Listen to your body and listen to your intuition. Eat close to nature. Would you go up to a cow in a pasture and suckle off its teet? No you wouldn’t. So why do you eat the yogurt in a pretty package made from the same thing? You’ve lost the consciousness of what it truly is that you are eating, because of the distraction of alluring commercial and modern packaging. But now we have to wake up!

Greek yogurt, a handful of berries, maybe some slivered almonds and honey…a great way to start the day, right? Ugh, no. I cringe when I see people walking from yoga pull out their little yogurt containers proudly from their bags. Gee, look how healthy I’m being they seem to strut, while I turn my head to roll my eyes (Om Namah Shivayah! Don’t be judgmentallllll! Be a yogi off the mat! I remind myself…). Concentrated food that is difficult for many to digest, like Greek yogurt, especially so early in the morning, will weigh down digestion and can contribute to sluggishness. Not to mention, fruit needs to be eaten alone or it can cause bloating (as if dairy didn’t do enough damage on that front).

While concentrated proteins should be left for dinners, I don’t believe anyone should ever eat dairy—not even in the evenings, and especially not first thing in the morning. Dairy is not intended in nature to be human food. It’s created for a baby cow, and humans are the only species that drink the milk of another animal…and through adulthood to boot. It’s acid-forming (which leads to accelerated aging in many forms!) in the body, mucus-forming (and too much mucus can get trapped along the walls of the intestines, trapping toxins inside the body), and can clog up digestion. Our bodies can’t digest dairy because most all of us stop creating adequate levels of lactase, the enzyme necessary to break down the sugars in milk, very early in life (around age 3). It’s very mucus-forming as well. Because of our inability to digest dairy, it cuts down on our Beauty Energy and makes it harder to lose weight, not easier.greek yogurt

In addition, the proteins in dairy called casein and whey (and Greek yogurt is famous for its higher protein content!) in such high levels can be especially harmful to the human body. Dr. Campbell, well-known for his heavily-researched The China Study, found that casein was associated with promoting cancer growth at all stages.

But what about calcium and probiotics? When you eat the acid-forming yogurt, your body tries to neutralize it. How does it do that? By pulling calcium out of the bones, which is an alkaline mineral. The calcium’s not replaced by what’s in the yogurt because most of the calcium in dairy is impossible for our bodies to absorb and use. The net effect, ironically, of eating acid-forming dairy is a calcium loss. Yogurt is not going to do anything to prevent osteoporosis. As for probiotics, you can just as easily get a healthy dose with my Probiotic & Enzyme Salad and a supplement.

Myth #4: Protein or Energy Bars are an Easy Way to Get a Fast Meal.

So many protein bars have ingredients in them—sugar, soy and whey protein, just to name a couple—that you don’t want to be eating. Here are a few examples:

When you look at the front of ThinkThin®’s Creamy Peanut Butter Protein Bar, you see that it has 15-20 grams of protein, 0 grams of sugar, and that it’s gluten-free. But flip it over to read the list of ingredients and you’ll see where that protein comes from—whey protein isolate (from milk) and soy protein isolate, both highly processed and terrible for you. Such fractionated ingredients do not belong in a clean, healthy body. There’s already plenty of casein there, but then factor in the soy, which brings with it GMOs, phytoestrogens to confuse your hormones, isoflavones that can depress thyroid function, and pesticides.

Quest Protein Bars avoid the soy protein, but promote whey protein as if it’s desirable. There’s no refined sugar, but lines outside of the all natural one contain Splenda, an artificial sweetener that is acidic and may contribute to weight gain by lowering the good bacteria in the intestines by up to 50 percent. We want the good bacteria to stay put!protein bars

The Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar sounds delicious, right? What’s not to love about chocolate and coconut? This bar contains brown rice syrup as its first ingredient, which is a sweetener used in place of high fructose corn syrup in so-called “healthy” products but could contain arsenic. That’s followed by soy, soy, and more soy (soy protein isolate, organic roasted soybeans, and organic soy flour). Remember what I said about soy? Especially all these highly processed soy products. From there, we get another sweetener, organic cane syrup, which isn’t the most offensive, but sugar is still sugar.

The Triple Threat® Bar in Chocolate Almond says “Triple Threat” right on the package, but they probably didn’t mean “sweeteners, soy, and dairy” when they put it there. This bar is, in fact, a triple (or more) threat to your beauty and your health. The first ingredient alone, the chocolate covering, contains sugar, milk, and soy lecithin (basically the oil from the soybeans, used to hold everything together). Sugar is listed quite a few times on the list in one form or another (glucose syrup, corn syrup, sugar, fructose…). There’s also the protein blend, which includes whey protein isolate, soy protein isolate, and calcium caseinate. Again, your acid-forming dairy, highly allergenic and pesticide-sprayed soy, and a recipe for disaster. How are these bars marketed as health foods again?

Better options are celery with almond butter, The Power Protein Smoothie or chia seeds. These bars will rob you of your Beauty Energy, not give you more, but unprocessed organic foods will increase your Beauty Energy and digest more efficiently than the processed protein and energy bars that wreak havoc within the body.

Myth #5: Agave is a Good Sweetener Option.

Agave had a good reputation as a “healthy” sweetener for a little while. I bought into the hype at first, loving the idea of a low glycemic sweetener that I could use in desserts without too much worry. I too, I will admit, poured it into raw smoothies and used it in raw food desserts as if it were as harmless (even good!) as the acai I often consumed along with it. Agave is low glycemic, but it also contains more fructose than high fructose corn syrup (up to 90 percent versus 55!). In other words, it’s destructive to your skin, your liver and your overall health. While I might dabble in a little gluten here and again, especially when I’m traveling (like when I go to the mother land of India) the one thing I won’t touch now is agave. If a restaurant uses agave it’s not just in dessert, it’s probably in salad dressing and other dishes. So I just won’t eat there. It sounds harsh, but I’d rather eat at a Thai restaurant or if you’re in LA, Rahel’s Vegan Ethiopian (one of my faves). agave

When you need a sweetener, consider stevia, organic maple syrup, xylitol, or dried fruit instead. When you use agave as an added sweetener, it’s not the same as consuming the minimal amounts of fructose that come naturally in whole fruits, and a Princeton Study found that fructose consumption like this (high-fructose corn syrup specifically, which, remember, has less fructose than agave nectar) can contribute to weight gain.

When you follow the Beauty Detox Solution, you can dodge most of the health food myths that arise, simply because we focus on whole foods that have always been—and always will be—just what your body needs to be its most beautiful and vibrant. There’s no dairy, plenty of protein (but not too much!), and nothing processed.

Please be conscious of what you eat, as it does affect your body and your overall energy. Don’t put crap in your body. You deserve the absolute best in all parts of your life, and if you strive for the best in your daily choices, and you will reach your highest potential.

With love, Kimberly

what to eat while pregnant

The 7 Nutrients You Need While Pregnant (and Which Foods to Avoid)

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Pregnancy is an incredibly sacred time. Your body is changing and accommodating to grow a precious, beautiful life within.

You’ll definitely need to choose what you’re putting in your body carefully to help that incredible baby develop and give him or her the healthiest start possible. The idea of “eating for two” is not really true- some researchers believe that excessive weight gain during pregnancy can actually contribute to a more difficult birth and other health complications. There’s no need to double your caloric intake simply because you’re pregnant, or let all dietary rules leap out the window. Besides, you don’t want to put less than ideal, processed foods in your body that would end up in the baby. But you will need to increase your caloric intake by about 300 calories per day. There are also certain nutrients you should make a special effort to get more of in your diet while you’re at it. Choose your foods wisely!

Consume More of These 7 Nutrients:

There’s really not much that you need to consume when you’re pregnant that you didn’t need when you weren’t pregnant. You’ll need to increase your intake of certain nutrients, though, because they’re especially helpful for preventing birth defects and reducing the likelihood of complications.

1. Folate/Folic Acid

Folate (found naturally in foods) and folic acid (the supplement) are especially important the first 28 days after conception. Since you may not know you’re pregnant right away, consider increasing your intake if you’re trying to get pregnant and continue throughout the pregnancy. The CDC actually recommends folic acid supplements, but you can also increase your folate consumption to meet the RDA prior to pregnancy with foods like leafy greens, fruits, fruit juices (skip the store-bought juices, though, and juice your own!), nuts, beans, peas, and grains. Take a look:

  • 1 cup of raw spinach has 58 mcg and a cup of cooked, drained, unsalted spinach contains a whopping 263 mcg
  • 1/2 cup of raw, sliced avocado has 59 mcg
  • 1 cup of shredded romaine lettuce has 64 mcg
  • 4 spears of boiled asparagus have 89 mcg (or 134 per cup); 70 mcg per cup of raw asparagus
  • 1/2 cup of cubed papaya has 27 mcg
  • 1 cup of cooked Brussels sprouts contains 47 mcg, and one cup raw gives you 54 mcg 
  • 1 cup of cooked quinoa has 78 mcg
  • Parsley has 91 mcg in one cup

The recommended daily amount to decrease the likelihood of neural tube defects like spinal bifida and anencephaly is 400 mcg. My Raw Tabouli Salad with Hemp Seeds gives you folic acid (via lots of parsley!) and omega-3s, which are also important during pregnancy.

2. Omega-3schia seeds

Eat your chia seeds! Many women don’t get enough omega-3s while they’re pregnant (DHA is especially important for a developing fetus). Some women have been trained to believe that the best–or only–source of omega-3s is fish, and when they learn that certain types of fish, in fact, can be dangerous because of their mercury content, they may cut back on seafood without replacing the omega-3s in their diet.

A fetus’ exposure to mercury in the womb could result in mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness, and blindness, but both baby and mom need omega-3s. Since the consumption of seafood should be severely limited (no more than 12 oz. per week, or roughly two meals) during pregnancy, but omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial for healthy neurological and eye development in the baby, women have to seek out other sources. Luckily for Beauty Detoxers, we know that you can get your omega-3s from seeds, nuts, algae (including seaweed), and avocados.  Pregnant women need 300 mg of omega-3s per day. If you’re still concerned, algae-based DHA supplements are available. DHA may not be present in your prenatal vitamins.

3. Calcium (with Magnesium)

When you’re pregnant, the baby needs calcium to develop. If there’s not enough calcium for both of you, the baby will still take what it needs, leaving you, mom, with potentially weakened bones. The recommended amount of calcium for pregnant women is 1,400 mg. Don’t head straight for the dairy products, though! Since dairy is acidic, it, too, will leach the calcium from your bones in your body’s attempt to neutralize it. Instead, seek out Beauty Greens—bok choy, broccoli, collard greens, cucumbers, kale, romaine lettuce, sea vegetables, turnip greens, spinach and sesame seeds/tahini to reach your recommended calcium goal per day. To absorb all that calcium, you’ll need another Beauty Nutrient, magnesium. Side note about magnesium: it also helps keep our bowels regular, so if you’re experiencing constipation during pregnancy, increasing your magnesium intake could help. Hempseeds, pumpkin seeds, and spirulina are all good sources of magnesium. While you shouldn’t depend on your prenatal vitamins to cover all your calcium needs, there is usually some (anywhere from 75 to 300 mg) to supplement an already nutritious diet.

4. Ironspirulina for iron

When you’re pregnant, your risk of developing iron deficiency anemia is heightened because your body needs about 15 to 18 mg when you’re not pregnant, and then 27 mg or more when you are. Iron deficiency is already a common problem all over the world. Add pregnancy to that, and you need to be especially careful, especially if you’re a vegetarian. In addition to anemia in the mom, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says an iron deficiency could mean a decrease in birth weight, complications during labor and delivery, and even impaired maternal functioning could result.  Pumpkin seeds (1 oz = 4.2 mg), spirulina, spinach (1 cup, raw = .81 mg and, when raw, includes vitamin C for best absorption), lentils (1/2 cup, cooked = 3.3 mg), chickpeas (1/2 cup, cooked = 2.4 mg), navy beans, black beans, and kidney beans are all good sources of iron. Eat the legumes with foods rich in vitamin C, like bell peppers, hot peppers, thyme, parsley, and leafy greens to maximize the iron absorption.

5. Vitamin D

Vitamin D is necessary for absorbing the calcium in your diet (and making your baby’s bones strong). With sun exposure, your body creates vitamin D, so you may not be deficient or in need of a supplement if you get plenty of sun. However most of us, pregnant or not, do need a vitamin D supplement. Pregnant women need at least 600 IU of vitamin D per day. Some prenatal multi-vitamins have all of that (and in some cases, more, like New Chapter’s Perfect Prenatal), so you won’t necessarily need an extra supplement. In 2007, the Canadian Pediatric Society stated that pregnant women needed 2,000 IU per day. A deficiency in vitamin D could lead to recurrent wheezing episodes later in life. If you’re not vegan, one tablespoon of cod liver oil can offer 1,360 IU of vitamin D.

6. B12vitamine side effects

A B12 supplement may be recommended while you’re pregnant, especially if you’re a vegetarian or vegan mommy-to-be. B12 is important for the baby’s developing brain. It’s also important for the mom, before, during, and after pregnancy, and while breastfeeding. While you’re body will be more efficient at creating B vitamins in your gut with the right balance of healthy flora, it is a general recommendation across the board, as I mention in the Beauty Detox books, to take a B12 supplement if you are vegetarian or vegan.

The B12 in the body will go to the fetus first (so be sure to get enough for the baby and yourself so you don’t become deficient!), and the baby will generally have enough stored up for the first four months of life as protection in case the mother is deficient at first. You’ll need to continue with a B12 supplement while breastfeeding to ensure that your baby is getting enough. Moms who don’t eat animal products will need the vitamin for their babies and themselves. Deficiency shows up as lethargy, irritability, and developmental delays. The RDA for B12 in pregnant women is 2.6 mcg and 2.8 mcg for breastfeeding women.

7. Protein

Though it depends on your size of course, a general recommendation by the Mayo Clinic is 71 grams of protein per day for pregnant women. You can hit this requirement whether you eat animal protein or not. Some of the best sources of plant-based protein include:

  • 1 cup cooked quinoa, 8.14 grams
  • 1 Power Protein Shake, around 26 grams
  • 1 16 ounce serving of Glowing Green Smoothie, around 6 grams
  • 1 cup tempeh, 31 grams
  • 1 cup boiled garbanzo beans, 14.53 grams
  • 1 cup lentils, boiled and unsalted, 17.86 grams
  • 1 cup sliced avocado, 2.92 grams
  • 1 cup chopped kale, 2.87 grams
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts, 17.82 grams
  • 1 cup amaranth, cooked, 9.35 grams
  • 1 tablespoon spirulina, 4.02 grams

What to Avoid Eating While Pregnant

Just as there are foods you should try to get more of in your diet while you’re pregnant, it’s super important to avoid certain foods due the potential toxins that are present, like mercury or dangerous bacteria, despite any potential benefits (like the omega-3s in fish). You’ll want to discuss the limitations with your healthcare provider, of course, but the Mayo Clinic lists:

  • Fish that is likely to be high in mercury, like swordfish, shark, tuna, king mackerel, and tilefish
  • Raw or undercooked meat, poultry, eggs, or seafood
  • Refrigerated smoked seafood, like lox
  • Unpasteurized meat or soft cheeses
  • Deli meat or hotdogs, unless cooked until steaming (there are so many other reasons NOT to eat these foods while pregnant or otherwise, which we won’t get into here!)

Remember that one of the biggest sources of environmental toxins entering your body is through animal foods, which are concentrate toxins in their flesh as contaminants move up the food supply.

So Can You Follow the Beauty Detox Principles?

You can absolutely follow the Beauty Detox guidelines and eat Beauty Detox Foods while you’re pregnant, like cutting out refined foods, dairy, gluten, and fried foods and eating Light to Heavy throughout the day. In fact, it’s a sure way to get plenty of the nutrients you and your growing baby need while you’re pregnant. Increase the intake of the foods and nutrients as discussed above, and add an excellent prenatal vitamin and others that your doctor recommends. Regardless of the Beauty Stage you’re in when you get pregnant, whether you still eat some animal products or you no longer eat them at all, you can meet all of the nutritional goals for a healthy pregnancy.

What I don’t recommend is attempting to move through the phases too quickly while pregnant. It is not a time to unleash a lot of toxins in your system. Use it as a guide for incorporating more Beauty Foods with the important Beauty Fats, Beauty Minerals, Beauty Proteins, and Beauty Vitamins into your diet, a guide for making nutritious choices over the ones that won’t do you or your baby any good (like the empty calories in those fried and refined foods!), and eating too much fatty foods.

Enjoy this sacred time for nourishing yourself and baby!

cauliflower soup recipe

Cauliflower Energy Soup Recipe

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(Makes about 4 servings)

This is a great soup for this time of the year. I never really considered myself a hardcore cauliflower lover…until I started making this delicious soup. Whenever I make it I consume a good deal of it. It’s raw and easy to digest, and contains turmeric, which has wonderful anti-inflammatory and alkalizing qualities.  Turmeric is an Ayurvedic spice that has amazing antioxidant properties. It inhibits oxidation and protects us from free radical damage, and also helps us clean up metabolic waste. It also supports our liver, while adding some color to this soup!

Even though it’s raw, I don’t like having this super cold. I like to warm it up to room temperature, which takes about 30 minutes or so out of the fridge, or you can warm it gently over the stove.

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium head of cauliflower, with outer green leaves removed and chopped into pieces

  • 3 Tbs. organic, unpasteurized miso paste (if you don’t have this you can just add more of the high quality sea salt at the end, adjusted to your taste)

  • ½ ripe avocado

  • 2 cups filtered water

  • Juice of 1 lemon

  • 2 ½ Tbs. of low sodium tamari

  • ½ tsp. turmeric

  • Chopped parsley, as a garnish

  • 1 tsp. Himalayan Sea Salt

Instructions:

Add all ingredients and blend until smooth before serving. If you’d like a thinner texture, try adding a bit more water. Enjoy!

 

kimberly snyder

How To Eat Healthy While Travelling

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Hi everyone!

I was inspired do this video based on the questions I’ve seen in the private Beauty Detox Facebook Community (CLICK HERE if you haven’t joined yet!) about what to eat when traveling or eating out.

I get this question all the time, from both readers and clients.  And the truth is, it’s can be done. I often get texts from clients from airports, and I walk them through it, time and time again.

The Beauty Detox philosophy isn’t meant to be impossible or difficult to follow, no matter if you are at home, or constantly on the go, (like me!).  Check out my easy tips above for what to order when eating out, how to eat when you’re traveling, and the snacks I always keep with me when I’m on the go.

Just remember, all it takes a little planning ahead to maintain the Beauty Detox philosophy wherever you are. It’s a little effort, but worth it because YOU are worth it.

Hope this helps! I send my love.

-Kimberly

 

poor digestion

What is the (Shocking) Cost of Poor Digestion to Our Society?

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I wanted to write about this aspect of this topic, because I think it’s an interesting perspective most of us don’t think about. Beauty Detoxers know how important excellent digestion is- it’s something that is the core of the lifestyle we live by. Choosing superior foods (energies) to take in, and properly breaking them down and assimilating their nutrients into our cells is essential to our beauty and health.

Everything within us and around us are connected. And that includes our physical, spiritual, emotional and mental well-being, with those of our community. Money, which is really another form of energy, is also of course affected by everything else. And the the hard costs of poor digestion for society as a whole may astound you. Read on!

Digestive Disorders and Issues

Taking the steps to eat more alkaline-forming foods, reintroduce good bacteria to the digestive tract, minimize or eliminate gluten, and replace large amounts of acid-forming foods like animal protein and dairy with gorgeous Beauty Foods might offset the costs of medication and doctors’ visits across the board.

Some of the conditions associated with digestive problems are:

Celiac disease: This is an autoimmune disorder exacerbated by gluten. The gluten damages the lining of the small intestine over time via inflammation, which makes it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients. This disease also causes bloating and diarrhea. The Body Detox plan eliminates gluten from the diet. Though this disease is usually controlled by a strict gluten-free diet, steroids are sometimes prescribed to reduce inflammation and skin medications are sometimes necessary, too, for itching and blisters.celiac disease

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): 60 to 75 percent of sufferers are women (most often between 30 and 50 years old), and about 20 percent of adults in North America and the United Kingdom suffer from it. Symptoms include gassiness, bloating, constipation or diarrhea, and abdominal pain. The average cost of IBS treatment per year in the United States is between $1.7 billion and $10 billion for direct medical cost—that doesn’t include any medication, prescription or over the counter–and a whopping $20 billion more for indirect costs, like time off (not only for doctor’s appointments, but for illness as well) or less productivity while at work.

Crohn’s disease: This is one of the major inflammatory bowel diseases. Symptoms include difficulty absorbing nutrients, bloating, abdominal pain, bleeding, fatigue, and diarrhea. In any treatment for Crohn’s disease, the goal is to decrease inflammation, usually with steroids, antibiotics, aminosalicylates, immunomodulators, and biologic therapies. In some cases, surgery is required. The CDC says the rise in cases of Crohn’s disease (and inflammatory bowel diseases in general) is believed to be a combination of a “westernization” of lifestyle—diet, chemicals, sunlight exposure, and pollution.

The CDC also states that $1.7 billion dollars are spent per year in the United States for treatment of inflammatory bowel disorders—“more than 700,000 physician visits, 100,000 hospitalizations, and disability in 119,000 patients. Over the long term, up to 75% of patients with Crohn’s disease and 25% of those with ulcerative colitis will require surgery.”hear

Heartburn: Some of the triggers for heartburn are caffeine, fried foods, processed foods, alcohol, large (heavy) meals (especially filled with fiber-less or low-fiber foods like animal products and junk foods), and dairy. With the exception of the occasional glass of wine or a dinner containing the occasional animal protein, the Beauty Detox plan eliminates all of those for you—and you won’t miss these parts of your diet or the heartburn. An article in US News says $6.3 billion was spent on Nexium in 2009, plus billions more on the over-the-counter Prilosec. That “cheap” junk food just got a whole lot more expensive! Instead of looking at the root cause in our diet and how we’re eating to cause heartburn in the first place- this is NOT how our bodies were meant to function!- why is the go-to answer to just take a medication?? 

Constipation: This is what I consider one of the most destructive conditions. Chronically holding toxins in is aging in every sense. Thee must release! Constipation could be a symptom of another disease or condition (like Irritable Bowel Syndrome), but in the average person, it’s a side effect of getting too little water and not enough fiber in the diet (and perhaps some energetic imbalances around issues of “letting go”). The Standard American Diet doesn’t offer much in the way of fiber or antioxidants, many of the meals are heavy and protein-laden, and they get “stuck” inside the body. Remember that only plant foods have fiber. The average amount spent each year on laxatives? $725 million. Yikes. Is this not crazy? We are spending hundreds of millions to poop, which is one of the most normal and basic human functions (!).

To top off the medication costs, the average doctor’s visit cost was $104 in 2011. Each year, there are about 104 million visits to the doctor regarding digestive issues. That’s a cost of about $10,816,000,000. per year. Doctor’s visits also cut down on productivity—an hour or two in that office instead of at work costs you even more money and most likely will eat into your time to relax, either because you have to catch up later or because you’re wasting your precious vacation time on a visit to the doctor. Not everyone who has digestive problems even sees a physician, so there are even more people out there suffering quietly, taking over-the-counter medications and experiencing lowered productivity and lowered overall vitality.

Though not all diseases and conditions can be cured by diet alone, look how much money we’re dumping into the medications for them and how much time and productivity we’re sacrificing. And yet people still say that eating healthy foods costs too much and takes too long! If even some of those medical expenses can be cut down by a nutritious, alkaline diet and proper food pairings, it’s worth it.

How to Ease Digestive Discomfort with Diet                                                                                                

So what do most of these digestive issues have in common? Diet. Even if the root cause of the disease isn’t diet, the symptoms can be greatly alleviated by following the Beauty Detox principles.

Antibiotics in certain foods (or those prescribed to help with certain conditions) kill off good bacteria in the intestines, so a probiotic is necessary to get your digestive system back on track. A good probiotic or the Probiotic and Enzyme Salad can help replace the good bacteria you’ve lost over time.Raw-Sauerkraut11

Combine foods properly and eat Light to Heavy to avoid giving meals time to putrefy in the system. When foods have the chance to remain too long in the stomach, the more toxic the undigested food matter becomes, plus it robs you of your Beauty Energy. This makes you uncomfortable, gassy, and could result in heartburn, too. The longer the food sits there.

If you think your digestive issues could be linked to a health condition, I urge you to speak with a qualified medical professional to talk over your concerns one-on-one. Following the Beauty Detox guidelines can set you on the path to efficient digestion, more energy, and less pain and discomfort. You need not suffer alone.  You can reclaim your life and your vitality, not to mention save money and boost your productivity and creativity.

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Could Taxing Your Adrenals Be Affecting Your Fertility?

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Did you know that taxing your adrenal glands (those little organs that sit atop your kidneys)—with too many stimulants (like caffeine!), stress, and not enough sleep—could be affecting your fertility? Trying to start or expand your family can be stressful enough, but if your adrenals are taxed, that can make conceiving that much more difficult. Tired, worn out, overtaxed adrenals can affect both men and women’s fertility (this isn’t just about us ladies, gentlemen!).

Adrenal Fatigue or Exhaustion and Fertility

When adrenals are overtaxed, it can contribute to reproductive issues in both men and women. The high levels of cortisol production from ongoing stress snowball into hormone imbalances, a feeling of constant fatigue, and even more stress and anxiety once fertility problems show up.

A study showed that stress and anxiety contribute to infertility in women partially because they increase the amount of cortisol in the blood. When cortisol levels remain elevated for an extended period of time, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) falls out of balance. That goes on to affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadotropic axis (HPG), which can “affect the hormonal profile in critical stages of the fertilization process.” When your hormones aren’t balanced, your fertility is compromised.

While the adrenals are working so hard to produce cortisol in response to ongoing stress, they’re dropping the ball on secretion of the other hormones necessary for fertility. The production of estrogen, progesterone, and DHEA takes a hit. Remember, cortisol is meant to be released short-term, in response to stress (fight-or-flight situations), so it wouldn’t normally interfere with these other hormones long-term, and fertility wouldn’t suffer. Chronic stress throws all of that out of whack. Eventually, the adrenal glands become too exhausted to keep up with the body’s cortisol demands and production of that drops off to lower than normal levels.

Even in men, an elevated rate of cortisol production can decrease fertility. In another study that looked at 60 subjects under fertility screening, the ones with the lowest sperm counts and motility were also the ones who had elevated cortisol serum levels. They had been under psychological stress for a prolonged period of time and their adrenals were working overtime to release cortisol. Adrenal fatigue can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep at night, and a study in the Journal of Epidemiology showed that sleep disturbances, too, can alter semen quality. (As a side note, not getting enough sleep can contribute to adrenal fatigue, too, because it increases the production of cortisol, creating a vicious cycle.)

Signs of Adrenal Fatigue

In addition to infertility, there are several other signs of adrenal fatigue, including:

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  • Still feeling tired first thing in the morning, so it’s hard to get up
  • Inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night
  • Junk food cravings (especially sweets and refined carbs!)
  • Mood swings
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Weakened immune system
  • Need for stimulants, like sugar or the caffeine in coffee, to get through the day
  • Decreased libido
  • Brain fog
  • Low tolerance for stressful situations

How to Give Your Adrenal Glands a Break

In our society, where it sometimes feels as if everyone is “on” all the time and rushing from place to place, fueling yourself with the right foods and allowing yourself to relax and get a full night’s sleep each day may seem impossible. The last thing you want to hear when you’re all stressed out and struggling to get pregnant is, just relax! You probably want to shout at them, shut uuup!, even though that is one part of healing the adrenals and may help you get pregnant. To reverse the effects of adrenal fatigue, you need to nourish your body, mind, and soul. You have to train your body to slow down in order to keep moving forward, not run harder.yoga

  • Yoga, tai chi, walking, or any other gentle exercise you enjoy can help. This isn’t the time to start incorporating high-intensity interval training into your workout routine. That would do more harm than good, as that level of difficult activity would just further stress the adrenals. I’ve personally been a yogi for years, and consider my practice essential to the balance of my life.
  • Breathing exercises/meditation will also soothe your mind and naturally decrease feelings of stress and anxiety. If you’re just starting out, you’ll be amazed by what even short periods of quiet will do. It is a practice, so you have to work on it to get better and better. Focus on breathing deeply. Concentrate on those breaths so no nagging to-do list will sneak in and ruin your moment. You can also work to learn some definite yogic techniques.
  • Give up the caffeine and sugar. When that afternoon sugar and coffee craving hits, try going for a short walk instead, or try consuming a small amount of bee pollen. Caffeine and sugar stimulate the adrenals, and though it’s a quick fix for a few hours, it’s doing nothing for you over the long run.
  • You gotta change your diet. There ‘aint no way to get around it! :) Cut out the refined carbs and other junk food. When your adrenals are taxed, you may be clinging to these but your body needs and deserves a highly nutritious, nurturing diet. The Beauty Detox Foods fill you up with the vitamins and minerals you need to recover; they don’t rob you of beauty, energy, or health the way the sugary, fatty, salty foods you crave when your adrenals are exhausted will. Over time on this diet, you’ll realize that your energy levels are maintained throughout the day, not up and down depending on what you last put into your body. Bananas are especially good for keeping anxiety to a minimum, which in turn relieves your adrenal glands.
  • Don’t drink or at least greatly cut back on alcohol. I realize it’s not realistic to expect everyone to cut it out completely. When dealing with adrenal fatigue, you may want to avoid even the occasional glass of wine, at least until your body has had time to heal. Alcohol stresses the adrenal glands just like coffee and sugar do. You may be used to having a glass of wine here and there at dinners, get-togethers, etc. But if you make a conscious decision not to drink, at least for a period, you’ll surprise yourself that you don’t need those drinks as much as you think.
  • Skip the scary movies. Anything that makes you feel like you’re on the edge of your seat, anything that makes you feel stressed by watching or reading it (that includes the news!), should be avoided. You know those scenes in horror movies aren’t real, but your body still reacts as if they are. That also goes for “scary”, drama-filled reality shows, ala Housewives of blah blah blah shows. You know what I mean!
  • Unplug. When you get home, turn off the computer and the phone and just unwind from your day. Eat a healthy meal, invite a friend over to relax by the pool, go for a walk in nature if the sun’s still up, read a book, and just do the things that help you recharge. Work will follow you around 24/7 if you let it. It’s up to you to take charge and set boundaries. I’ll be honest. I don’t have boundaries with my clients- I communicate with them 24/7. But no matter what, I have my mediation time in the morning and night- that I do not skip.

Relaxation may not be a switch you can flip the way those well-intentioned people seem to suggest when they find out you’re suffering from infertility, but making changes to your life will change your feelings of well-being overall. When you nourish yourself this way, by being careful about what you put into your body (and mind) and giving it time to rest and recuperate each day, you’ll find that you did “just relax” after all. It’s not exactly that simple because it may involve making some huge adjustments to your lifestyle, but teaching yourself to live a healthier, more balanced life will result in more happiness overall–and fertility in all areas of your life- including manifesting all your goals and dreams.

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Sally’s (my mother!) Easy Bell Pepper Salsa Recipe

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Yields:  large bowl, to serve about 6

My mother Sally is a great cook, and has a way of making even simple dishes look and taste great.

I never used to put bell peppers in salsa, until mom started doing it. The different colored peppers add different flavors and levels of sweetness.  This is SO great to keep around the house in big batches, especially with summer. I use it as a salad dressing, a dip or just to eat plain when I’m wanting to chew something. Try it for yourself!

Ingredients:

  • 4 large tomatoes

  • 1 large sweet onion, or about 2 cups chopped onion

  • 1 large orange bell pepper

  • 1 large yellow bell pepper

  • 2 cups chopped cilantro

  • ½ tsp. ground black pepper

  • 2 Tbs. lemon juice

  • ½ Tbs. Celtic or Himalayan sea salt

  • Cayenne pepper, to taste

Instructions:

This is a meditative recipe- meaning, a lot of chopping. Dice the tomatoes, onion and bell peppers and add to a large mixing bowl. Chop the cilantro and add as well. Add the black pepper, lemon, sea salt and cayenne pepper, and adjust to taste.

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Beauty Detox Hits Texas! (Come on the photo tour with me)

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I just got back from a wonderful, whirlwind trip across Texas. And I have to say, it was a blast and I love all our Texas Beauty Detoxers that are part of our community!! GGS’s and Raw Cabbage Slaw and Taco Gorilla Wraps and probiotics are very much alive in Texas. :)

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First stop was Austin. I did some TV there…

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And we had a chance to go to visit and walk around the lake there. SO hot! Even these doggies had to cool down.

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We ate at this great new cantina. I got a huge salad with salsa as the dressing, grilled veggies (asked for light oil), a side of black beans and a side of Mexican rice. I just tossed everything together. So yummy, and it kind of became our go-to Texas Beauty Detox meal. :) Enzymes first of course!

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Maggie, my beloved publicist, took up the wheel as we drove from place to place, city to city.

Yee ha!

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So if you’ll notice, this sign says “Talk/Signing”. I thought I was just doing a signing! But the store manager informed us of the “talk” part right when we walked in and saw the sign…2 minutes before start. So…I was forced to wing it. It was one of those moments where you panic for a few moments, but have to pull yourself together. There is nothing else you can do!

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Ok! So here is my talk. Straight from my heart, and with lots of love.

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I love to meet members of our Beauty Detox community face to face!!

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Everyone is so sweet and glowing and lovely!!

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THIS is my favorite kind of book. Well worn, well read, dog-eared, been tossed in and out of the kitchen…and well loved.

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Beauty Detox twins!

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Had to drive to Dallas at 10 pm! To make an early morning show. Here are our travel snacks for the road (sneaking into Wholefoods right before close). Salads, veg sushi, gluten-free flax crackers, dark chocolate.

Our favorite travel food was “chocolate sandwiches”, which I would feed to Maggie while she was driving. :) 2 crackers with a small square of dark chocolate in the middle. Yum!

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With all the driving and traveling, yoga is an absolute must for me. On the road as home! The great thing about yoga is all you need is a mat…or sometimes not even that. Breathe, get centered, and move your body naturally to create space and optimize your own pranic flow. OMMMM.

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Ah, here I am doing a few Dallas segments, demo-ing the Raw Cabbage Slaw and other beauty dishes. You’ll see I’m wearing my lucky blue dress- which has been THE theme dress of this entire book tour. I first wore it on Access Hollywood the first week Beauty Detox Foods hit the New York Times Bestseller list, so I consider it good luck and have been wearing it (and wearing it) only for book tour stuff ever since!

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To go treats I made on air- GGS and the Raw Cabbage Slaw mixed with Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie!

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By the way LOVED our hotel in Dallas- the Zaza. Highly recommend if you go there! Lots of art and unique photographs. Maggie and I had a mango party on the deck one late morning.

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In Dallas we had a moment to go waling at the Katy Trails. So pretty and tranquil.

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More impromptu talks to go along with more signings!

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Beauty Detox family!

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We had to drive to Houston VERY early to do 3 segments Great Day Houston segments with Deborah Duncan, who is simply fabulous…

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Then we had to turn around and go back to Dallas for meetings and signings back there!

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Here is a signing at Central Market Preston Royal!

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Beauty Detox family from the start…parents started pre-baby!!

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In Dallas we ate at the restaurant located within the magnificent Kalachandji Hare Krishna temple, where they have a wonderful vegan feast buffet and a beautiful courtyard to sit at within the temple itself. Simple and wonderfully tasty food, made with lots of love. You must visit if you go to Dallas! It made me feel I was back in India again.

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Lots of Wholefood salad bars on the go as well…

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Back in Houston! Ate Japanese one night- mixed green salad with dressing on side, seaweed salad too, veggie rolls (some Japanese restaurants will make rolls with brown rice which I love, and some won’t, but at least there are options).

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Road warriors! A bit disheveled and in yoga pants/pajamas for the long road trips…

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Another Barnes & Noble signing in Houston.

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This Beauty Detoxer was able to get pregnant! Here she is showing me a picture of her adorable son.

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Beauty Detox IS for men too!

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I have dear friends in Houston- Ryan and Alison! It was great to see them in their native H town.

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That’s it folks! Much love to those I got to meet in person, as well as those of you I haven’t met in person. For we are all together and connected in spirit. :)

 

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What You May Not Know About Fish Toxins

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You’ve heard it all before—fish is a great way to make sure you’re getting your omega-3s for beautiful skin and heart health, among other perks. It seems a “cleaner” option then the ‘ol chicken or red meat on the menu.

The only problem with that is…with those omega-3s, you’re getting more toxins than ever these days. It’s the sad truth of our polluted waterways and oceans, and our fish friends act as virtual underwater filters. Mercury and PCBs abound in seafood (in some fish more than others), so you should certainly not pile on the seafood as a daily component of your diet. The good news is that some fish contain lesser amounts of toxins, so if you are a fish-eater/love you can be more strategic in your choices and fare far better! Also, please read to the end of this blog, and you’ll see tips for those that want to keep fish in their diet, to maximize health and safety.

Fish with the Highest and Lowest Mercury Content

Not all fish are the same in their toxicity levels. The National Resources Defense Council states that the most polluted fish include:

  • Swordfish
  • Mackerel (king, Spanish, and gulf)
  • Orange roughy
  • Tuna (bigeye, ahi, canned albacore, and yellowfin)
  • Shark
  • Tilefish
  • Marlin
  • Bluefish
  • Chilean sea bass
  • Grouper

It’s funny because I went to a sushi restaurant a few days ago with friends (seaweed salad, veggie rolls for me) and forbade my friends from ordering their usual yellowfin sashimi. There was a whitefish on the menu that they switched to instead. Whew!

Some of the popular seafood picks, including mahi-mahi, lobster, halibut, Alaskan cod, black and striped bass, and Atlantic and Pacific halibut, are considered “moderately” contaminated with mercury, and the NRDC recommends eating them no more than six times per month. Isn’t “moderately contaminated” a funny term? It’s like saying, well, it’s okay to just eat a teeny bit of rat poison- but not too much!

Some of the fish that have been shown to be lower in heavy metals and toxins include (this doesn’t mean heavy-metal free, but at least lower lowers displayed in some research):

  • Wild Alaskan salmonmenpachi
  • Sole
  • Tilapia
  • Trout (freshwater)
  • Haddock
  • Whitefish
  • Anchovies
  • Perch
  • Squid
  • Mullet
  • Scallops
  • Sardines
  • Domestic crabs

Mercury comes with a whole lot of nasty side effects if you get too much as an adult, a mom-to-be, or a child. Since you can’t detect it on your own by smell or taste, it’s important to educate yourself on the types of fish it’s safest to eat and the ones you should avoid at all costs.

Mercury is a neurotoxin. The NRDC lists memory loss, blood pressure regulation, numbness in the toes and fingers, heart disease, vision loss, and tremors as effects mercury can have on adults. For pregnant women, the exposure could cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness, or blindness in the child. A study found lowered IQ levels and issues with language, attention, memory, motor skills, and visuospatial functioning in children whose mothers ate fish high in mercury during pregnancy. There are safer ways to get omega-3s and protein for moms-to-be (and everyone else, too!), and they don’t even involve supplements!

In children, there can be all kinds of delays in their development when exposure to mercury occurs.  They may not walk or talk as early as they should, and their learning abilities could be impaired when exposed to even small amounts. Because children’s brains develop so quickly and their bodies are growing and learning so much in the first six years of life, they are especially susceptible to the effects of mercury.

It’s Not Just Mercury. There’s Other Nasty Stuff in Fish, Too.

A lot of what we hear in regard to the dangers of fish revolves around the presence of mercury in their fat and flesh. However, there are also PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and viruses to think about. PCBs are chemicals that were released into the air, water, and soil by industries from the 1920s until they were banned in 1979. Though they can be broken down in the environment (especially in sunlight, though it still isn’t easy) and they haven’t been used in decades, they’re still around and able to cause problems because they’re still hanging around in the fish we eat. The big fish eat the little fish that have PCBs in them, then the even bigger fish eat those, and the PCBs just accumulate over time, working their way up the food chain.

In adults, exposure to PCBs has been linked to memory problems, sexual and fertility issues, and cancer. If a child has too much exposure (inside the womb or later), his IQ and memory can suffer.

A study involving people from the Great Lakes basin area, where fish consumption is higher than average, found that those men and women had heightened risks of cancer, immune and endocrine system troubles, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, diabetes, and liver disease after the reproductive years (the study did not find conclusive evidence that PCBs caused reproductive issues, but said that reproductive function “might” be disrupted and would require further study).

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment of California offers a few tips for making fish safer to eat (though you’re still not going to be able to remove all the toxins), like:

  • Trim the fat.
  • Remove the skin.
  • Clean and gut the fish before cooking it.
  • Don’t eat the liver of the fish or the soft green parts of crabs and lobsters.

(See more tips from me, below).

As with the mercury, the bigger, fattier fish are the ones to watch out for when you’re worried about PCBs. The Environmental Defense Fund has a chart that shows how often it’s safe to eat certain types of fish for men, women, older children, and younger children, and states whether the concern is mercury, PCBs, or both.

Viruses and Government Cover-Ups

Viruses are another issue, and they’re generally a man-made one. The film, Salmon Confidential, discusses the effects that salmon farms may have had on wild salmon along the Fraser River in British Columbia. The wild salmon passing through the areas where salmon are farmed are potentially picking up deadly (to them) diseases—infectious salmon anemia (ISA), salmon alphavirus (which damages the salmon’s pancreas), and piscene reovirus, which weakens the heart (turns it to mush, actually), making it impossible for these once powerful fish to swim upstream.5780934-fresh-salmon-fillets-with-skin-on-a-white-plate

Some of the farmed salmon carry disease all the way to the store, based on the samples biologist Alex Morton from British Columbia gathered—and they’re being sold as food in the supermarket when they have these diseases. Morton sent a salmon sample in for testing, straight from the supermarket, and it came back positive for piscene reovirus. I know- this is an absolute outrage!! I know we would all like to believe that what we buy in the supermarket is always safe, but it is sadly, not so.

Instead of addressing the problem as if it were a real threat and allowing scientists to investigate, the Canadian government muzzled anyone who wanted to say the farmed salmon were infected and the cause for the decline in wild salmon. While studying the decline of wild salmon, scientist Kristi Miller’s research led her to the salmon farms. She was forbidden to test the farmed salmon (or speak out at all about it—no interviews, no meetings, nothing). The government allows farms to keep disease information confidential from the public and scientists. (What the heck is up with that??!!)

The unwillingness to do anything but cover up the issue puts the ecosystem—and um, our health—at risk, all for the sake of not interrupting trade (and cash flow). So far, the viruses are reportedly not affecting humans, but who knows what the future could reveal? What happens when a virus has been kept alive at cold temperatures on sushi and then you consume it?

If you want to eat salmon, look for the redder fish without visible white fat stripes. The paler, fattier fish are the farm-raised ones, and they’re the most likely to have the infections. (This isn’t a surefire test as some salmon is dyed to look darker, but it is at least one thing to look for).

Other Omega-3 Sources

Obviously, you still need omega-3s in your diet, even when you’re consciously limiting your intake of fish. You can get omega-3s, however, from Beauty Food sources, like flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds. Just one or two tablespoons a day will give you what you need for healthy brain and nerve function. I’d like to point out that dark leafy green vegetables contain omega 3 fats as well- especially when ingested in large amounts, such as blended into a GGS.

Walnuts are another option, since their omega-3 content is higher than any other type of nut. Try them used in place of ground beef in the Raw Taco Mexican Salad Meal.

If you love Brussels sprouts (as I do), a cup and a half of them will meet your daily omega-3 requirement. Are you shocked? Leafy green vegetables are full of happy surprises!

But What If You Don’t Want to Give Up Fish?

I know. You’ve given up dairy and burgers and now…fish? Heck no! I have to eat something in restaurants, you may be somewhat annoyingly muttering to yourself. I hear it all the time from my clients, and I understand the social and familial complications that can be involved (though it’s possible to eat out without animal foods all the time.  In the Glowing Lean System I take you through the best way to order out of many restaurants- from Mexican to American, etc. I do it all the time). If you truly love eating fish and don’t want to give it up, there are a few things you can do to lower your exposure to the toxins.

When you do eat fish, make sure it’s baked or broiled so the fat (which contains most of the toxins) is drained away. Don’t choose pan-seared or fried because those methods won’t remove the fat. Be selective in the type of fish you eat (see the list above!), but still try not to eat it more than twice per week.

Try to avoid sushi as much as possible. In a perfect, toxin-free (and virus-free) world, sushi and sashimi would be some of the healthiest ways to eat fish. But since you’re eating it raw, all of the nasty stuff that goes along with fish these days is still present. If sushi’s your favorite food and you don’t want to give it up, try trading in your tuna and salmon, some of the most common fish used in sushi, for others from the list that are less contaminated.

You don’t have to give up anything you don’t want to; just be aware of the concerns so you can make educated decisions on the types of fish you consume and how often you eat it. Try to supplement your omega-3 fatty acid consumption with some of the options I listed above, and have fish only a few times a month or a couple of times per week.

If you are a fish-eater, eat lots of cleansing herbs, especially cilantro, which can help chelate (bind to and escort out) heavy metals out of your body. Throw some in your GGS!

 

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Memorial Day Picnic Idea: Raw Tabouli Hemp Seed Salad

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Memorial Day is here! It happily marks the long awaited beginning of summer for most of us. That means…picnic time! This easy recipe is great to bring along to any gathering or picnic (and takes barely any prep time).

This refreshing salad is a great way to add hempseeds into your diet rotation, which are a great source of plant protein and essential omega fatty acids, into your diet. Toss this right before you head out, for maximum freshness.

Beauty Detox Secret: Parsley is rich in the beauty Vitamins A and C, folic acid, and has flavonoids that act as antioxidants- to help keep us youthful. Parsley contains iron, and its vitamin C content assists the absorption of iron. It is a blood purifier and helps to kill bacteria in the body.  Parsley is an excellent digestion restorative remedy, and is known to be a natural diuretic.

Beauty Detox Secret : Hempseeds are 33% easily digestible plant protein, and 3 tbs. serves up a whopping 11 grams of protein. They are loaded with the perfect ratio of Omega 3 fats, and the beauty minerals magnesium, zinc, iron and phosphorus to boost your beauty.

Serves: 2 (you can double or triple, etc. recipe for larger groups)

Base:

1 huge bunch of either curly parsley or Italian flat parsley, or 2 smaller bunches

½ white onion, diced

1 organic tomato, diced

5-6 heaping Tbs. of hempseeds

Dressing:hempseed

Juice of 1 lemon

1 clove of garlic, minced

Dash of cold-pressed olive oil (optional)

Sea salt, to taste

Instructions:

Chop the parsley and throw it into a large bowl, along with the tomato, onion and hempseeds. In a small blender container, or whisked by hand, combine the lemon, garlic, olive oil and sea salt and blend or mix well.

Pour over the salad and mix well, and you’re ready to go to the picnic armed with something healthy to eat and share!

Happy Memorial Day! Love and best, Kimberly